Part of the Bele Belle Jazz Club series, this collection of three Gonzalo Rubalcaba sessions from 1986 and 1987 finds the pianist in three different settings: electric septet, trio, and solo. The two electric septet session are great in so far as they showcase Rubalcaba's gloriously extended harmonic style with a group., but the electric bass and synths on these two cuts sound just awful. The trio accounts for one selection, and it is full of the fluid, high melodic style Rubalcaba is known for with a rhythm section. It is on the solo cuts where Rubalcaba's now-trademark rhythmic invention is showcased brilliantly; his use of space, and dynamic and harmonic invention, is singular here, playing the jazz tradition against the folk music of his native Cuba on eight selections. It is for these – with their deep lyricism, and contrapuntal engagements – that the album is worth the price.

Anyone who loves the crossover collaborations not remain insensitive to Havana Paris Dakar, wedding several cultures and rich musical colors of history. Beautiful World Village label reveals the union of a nomad of Senegalese music, Alune Wade, and a Cuban piano prodigy, Harold Lopez-Nussa time of an album. The duo portrayed the African musical landscape through covers of famous songs like Small Country, the success of Cesaria Evora, Sara Tavares, the standard of chaabi Yarahya, Aminata, salsa made in Dakar, or Independence Cha Cha, a tube of years of independence, composed by Joseph Kabasele.

In the mid-1960s, the rigid and colourless British way of life was irrevocably transformed by the emergence of the underground movement, a loose collective of young radicals who introduced new social, sexual and aesthetic perspectives. Operating out of the heart of London, their various activities, from the newspaper the International Times, to the psychedelic club UFO, promoted alternative lifestyles and values and sparked a cultural revolution.

Featuring prime Latin jazz cuts from the heyday of the mambo, Afro Cuban Jazz: 1947-1960 is really a better than average showcase for one of the music's best: Machito. In fact, this disc contains 13 sides by Machito & His Orchestra, including two bebop gems featuring Charlie Parker ("Mango Mangue," "No Noise, Pts. 1-2"). That's not to overlook the presence of one of the supreme champions of Latin jazz, Dizzy Gillespie ("Manteca"), Stan Kenton and his mathematically frenetic bongo jams, and J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding teaming up for a couple of classics. Truthfully, however, the real meat here is heard on such Machito dancefloor fillers as "Oyeme" and "Minor Rama." So, when you've got a jones for jazz in a mambo mood, this disc will provide the needed salve.

The most jazz-oriented of the elderly musicians in the Buena Vista Social Club, pianist Ruben Gonzalez was 77 at the time of this CD, his debut as a leader. Although he did not even own his own piano at the time, he plays brilliantly, performing a variety of traditional melodies plus two originals, often quoting other songs and really stretching himself. His chord voicings are distinctive and very inviting, his control of the piano is quite impressive, and the music sings its heart out. The CD was recorded spontaneously over a two-day period with Gonzalez mostly being the lead voice, assisted by trumpeter Manuel Mirabal (who has some fine solos), bassist Orlando "Cachaito" Lopez, several percussionists, and occasionally three background singers. This set is impossible not to love.

One of the finest Afro-Cuban jazz projects in recent years. Tight, spicy, and full of unexpected turns. There is a whole lot of talent in this band.

Mambo Sinuendo is a collaboration between Ry Cooder and Buena Vista alum (and formerly of many other groups as well) Manuel Galban. The album attempts to catch an old style popularized in Cuba by Galban, and was, surprisingly, never followed up on by anybody after Galban. It's a guitar-based romp closely based in the pop/jazz crossovers of the 1950s-1960s (Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, etc). There's a touch of exoticism here and there, and a larger touch of a relatively Hawaiian feel throughout the whole via the guitar techniques employed by the pair. It's all somewhere in a form between lounge, mambo, and Esquivel's old space-age-bachelor-pad music. In rare instances, there's even a little bit of a house drum loop added in by the percussionists.

Antiguo is different than most Gonzalo Rubalcaba records. The pianist spends a lot of time exploring synthesizers. Rubalcaba and his longtime quartet (trumpeter Reynaldo Melian, bassist Felipe Cabrera, and drummer Julio Barreto) are joined in spots by the voices of Maridalia Hernandez and Lazaro Ros, percussionist Giovanni Hidalgo, and violinist Dagoberto Gonzalez.

With his remarkable range and phenomenal technique, Arturo Sandoval is one of the world's great trumpeters; he can do virtually anything he wants on his instrument. Some detractors have claimed that he has too much technique (is such a thing possible?) and that his recordings for GRP are a bit erratic. The latter criticism cannot be applied to this 1988 release. Sandoval is heard with a standard quartet comprised of the great pianist Chucho Valdes (the leader of Irakere), bassist Ron Matthewson, and drummer Martin Drew. Recorded in England before Sandoval broke ties with Cuba, Sandoval is in near-miraculous form on some blues, a lyrical "My Funny Valentine," and a few basic originals. Just listen to him tear through "Blue Monk," playing in the low register with the speed of an Al Hirt before jumping into the stratosphere like Maynard Ferguson.

Grammy Award-winning California-based percussionist Poncho Sanchez is a Latin-jazz superstar from the old school. His thunderous hand-drumming style is derived from Mongo Santamaria, and he performed with vibes master Cal Tjader for years before he made a name for himself as a leader. On this recording, Sanchez gives you danceable grooves for the head and the heart. Backed by a large ensemble, Sanchez travels the New World in search of Latin sounds, stylistically docking in the musical ports of Havana, New York, and New Orleans. He spices up several Afro-Cuban standards, including the festive Machito anthem "Sambia" and Tito Rodriguez's "Batiri Cha Cha." Special guest Chick Corea wrote the title track and he dazzles the ear with his Afro-Iberian pianisms on a furious folkloric rendering of Wayne Shorter's Blue Note classic, "Ju Ju."